The Original Pancake House Woodmere — Restaurant in Woodmere

Two really important caveats to eating a delicious breakfast here: 1.) The host will not seat your party until everyone is present and 2.) during busy times you may be asked to give up your table after you finish your meal.

That was my first experience eating here recently with my wife and daughter. The food was really tasty and plentiful and our server was attentive and thoughtful. I enjoyed a blueberry waffle with a side of scrambled eggs, my wife had a Dutch Baby (it was huge) with a side of two sausage links, and our daughter had an omelette with orange juice. We all had coffee. Our bill with a nice tip came to just a little more than $72.

Going back to the caveats I mentioned, make sure everyone who is dining with you is there, in the waiting area. My wife and I arrived a little before 8:30 and our daughter was running a few minutes late. The hostess would not seat us, even though there were a LOT of open tables within sight and just one other person in the waiting area who was waiting for one person to show. Our daughter arrived at 8:35 and as soon as she walked in we were seated.

We had our food within 30 minutes of our order, so around 9:00. We ate, then chatted a while until the server came to the table with our bill around 9:40, which I was able to pay on the spot. Maybe two or three minutes later a man came to our table and said, "You're going to have to leave. We need this table."

It was a bit abrupt and a bit shocking to us, as we were within minutes of leaving anyway, but the man never identified himself and was not pleasant at all. As we began walking out, there was no shortage of tables–eight open just in the front of the restaurant alone. We had to ask the hostess who he was: the manager. Yikes.

Apparently, there is fine print somewhere on the menu that warns diners about being asked to give up their table during busy 'rush' times. I found out about this after I sent a note to the corporate office about how we were treated because none of us had never been denied a table when we arrived before the rest of our party, and we had never been asked to give up our table while we were finishing up.

We will likely give this place another shot, now that we know their 'rules'. The food and service...

As the saying goes, never meet your heroes.

We went in today for some nostalgia of a place that was great in childhood.

While the title may say the “original pancake house”, think if this as the pancake house that got bought out by a TGI Fridays subsidiary. It may have once been great, but no more.

Pancakes tasted like graham crackers that had been left out in a high humidity room for a few months on end.

Apple pancake (a signature dish) was raw batter in some places, apple label stickers and kitchen debris in others, burnt around the edges, and tasted like some blend of apples and kitchen leftovers.

The green chile omlet was most similar to curdled-milk-mush. Totally odd.

After trying a bite the dishes, we asked for the bill and left because it was clear in the food we saw on other tables that it was the norm. Not sure Ive ever encountered such a strange set of food in a restaurant.

The food was more strange and disturbing than bad because we were truly baffled how someone achieved making it taste the way it did, and achieve the textures they achieved. It was sincerely mysterious. The goals achieved aren't possible under the laws of kitchen physics as I understand them. But clearly, I am wrong. and they are possible.

Waitress was sincerely delightful and fantastic, and I have no doubt would have offered to replace food had we asked, and even noted she sent back the first apple pancake for being burnt before it even got to our table. Catch was that it seemed the fod we received was inductive of the normal. Rest of staff was equally lovely.

All that said, the place was packed, and many seemed thrilled to be there. So maybe we’re just missing something. Though I love diners, the more hole-in-the-wall the better. And this didn't achieve any breakfast goals.

I suspect this place survives as a nostalgia tourist trap of sorts, not based on the reality.

This was a truly strange breakfast I will not...

I went here for breakfast and the server (Sheryl) was HORRIBLE! The entire time, I was wishing servers didn't have to wear masks so I could see her face to find out if perhaps she knew me because she was rude to the point that I felt like perhaps she knew me and disliked me. She was very short with us, did the bare minimal as a server and each time I said thank you for whatever she did and she just looked and walked away, I ordered pancakes and potato cakes...she brought all our food w/out my potato cakes, said she'd grab them and disappeared for over 20 min. I had to ask her if they were coming up soon and she then went to get them. She came to our table right away as we were seated to take our orders...when we asked for a moment to settle in and go over the menu, she left so long (over 15 minutes) that we had to seek her out. She slammed items on the table including the hot water mug that syrup is served in and when another member of my party asked for a water refill, she went to what looked and sounded like the dish clearance area to fill his cup with tap water. The final straw that prompted me to write this review is as we were leaving, she jammed a menu into it's case however it was so aggressive that she never got it completely in it's place. She then walked away and the young lady waiting to bus our table did a double take (not realizing we were also watching) and politely came behind her to fix it. I called the manager Joey and he was quick to tell me this is atypical and this particular team member gets great reviews (as if it mattered or were believable) on the day I experienced her in this form. I assured him that this would not be the case this time. He offered to give two free meals should we come back (and would be sure to assign a different wait staff🤔). He also guaranteed he'd talk to her about this. The food was abundant and very tasty during this visit despite everything...